Alabama vs. Clemson Spread Prediction
Both Alabama and Clemson have steamrolled the competition this season and will now meet in Monday’s national championship game for the third time in the past four years. Listed as a 5.5-point favorite, will the Tide roll or will the Tigers pull off yet another upset?
Game Snapshot
151 Clemson Tigers vs. 152 Alabama Crimson Tide
8:00 p.m. ET, Monday, January 7, 2019
Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California
Public Betting Information
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Crimson Tide are currently 5.5-point favorites to beat the Tigers. The total, meanwhile, sits at 58 points. These have been the betting odds for the national championship game for the last few days, with little to no movement at Vegas and online sportsbooks.
Clemson Tigers
Clemson Freshman QB Trevor Lawrence completed 27-of-40 passes for 327 yards with three touchdowns in a 30-3 victory over Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl Classic on Saturday. Well, the first quarter was close. Lawrence started out slow, but he certainly finished well, finding Justyn Ross for two touchdowns in the second quarter and a third score came to Tee Higgins right at the end of the first half. The superstar freshman was accurate, avoided turnovers, and the Clemson defense did the rest. This is a superstar.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama junior LB Terrell Lewis (knee) won’t play against Clemson on Monday. It was always a long shot that Lewis was going to play during the 2019 season after he tore his right ACL in July, but he returned to practice in December, and there was an outside chance the talented linebacker would play. Instead, the 6-foot-5, 254-pound defender will sit out against the Tigers. Because he didn’t play in more than four games — or at all — he will get a redshirt for the year and still have two more years of eligibility, if he wants to use them.
Betting Trends
Clemson
The Tigers are 8-1 against the spread in their last nine bowl games and are 7-2 against the number in their last nine games overall.
Alabama
The Crimson Tide are just 1-5 at the betting window in their last six games played in the month of January.
Prediction
Assuming the moment won’t be too big for true freshman Trevor Lawrence, I love Clemson in this matchup. I’ll take the 5.5 points to put in my back pocket because this is Alabama, after all, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Tigers pull off the outright upset.
Tua Tagovailoa still didn’t look like he was 100-percent in the semi-finals versus Oklahoma and Alabama’s offensive line struggled against quality SEC front sevens this season. Georgia put pressure on Tagovailoa in the SEC title game before wilting to Jalen Hurts in the second half. Considering Alabama averaged 47.7 points per game this season (which ranked second nationally), the fact that Mississippi State (24 points allowed) and LSU (29 points allowed) held ‘Bama to under 30 points were victories in their own right.
With Dexter Lawrence (suspension) out for Clemson, Tagovailoa will still make plays. He’s a superstar. But again, he’s hobbled and with Lawrence and an outstanding stable of receivers, the Tigers have the offense to match points tonight. In fact, I see this game eventually turning into a shootout. Given how the spread is nearly a touchdown, I’ll take the dog in a game that could go back and forth all night.
National Championship Game Prediction: Clemson Tigers +5.5